War takes a horrific physical and emotional toll on our soldiers and their families, and we are currently not providing them adequate care and support. We must unite around our commitment and honor their service by adequately addressing their health and well-being.

Only a daily basis, veterans assuming they are going to see tenured doctors are met with nurse practitioners due to the turnover at the VA. The VA is simply not able to compete with the private sector to attract doctors and has been forced to use its existing resource of nurse practitioners to provide care to veterans.

Despite much official talk about dealing with the mental health of military men, women, and veterans, the military itself remains open to yet more insider attacks. After almost 13 years of failed wars in distant lands, think of us as living in Ameraqafghanica.

Ivan Lopez's killings at Fort Hood, while on a scale not often matched, are one more marker on a bloody trail of death that leads from Iraq and Afghanistan into the American heartland, to bases and backyards nationwide.

PTSD, domestic violence and alcohol abuse are problems that have been widely chronicled among returning veterans of our recent wars. Often left out of the discussion, however, is the terrible toll that prescription medications -- namely, opioid painkillers -- take on veterans' lives.

Caregivers are a forgotten branch of our military. They tend to the mental and physical wounds of those who return from war, helping them get the benefits they deserve and bridging the gap between what doctors and nurses can give and what veterans need.